Shankar Narayanan

Water harvesting from air with metal-organic frameworks powered by natural sunlight

Solar heat helps harvest humidity Atmospheric humidity and droplets constitute a huge freshwater resource, especially at the low relative humidity (RH) levels typical of arid environments. Water can be adsorbed by microporous materials such as zeolites, but often, making these materials release the water requires too much energy to be practical. Kim et al. used a metal-organic framework (MOF) material that has a steep increase in water uptake over a narrow RH range to harvest water, using only ambient sunlight to heat the material. They obtained 2.8 liters of water per kilogram of MOF daily at 20% RH. Science, this issue p. 430 Efficient extraction is enabled by a steep increase in water uptake within a narrow range of relative humidity. Atmospheric water is a resource equivalent to ~10% of all fresh water in lakes on Earth. However, an efficient process for capturing and delivering water from air, especially at low humidity levels (down to 20%), has not been developed. We report the design and demonstration of a device based on a porous metal-organic framework {MOF-801, [Zr6O4(OH)4(fumarate)6]} that captures water from the atmosphere at ambient conditions by using low-grade heat from natural sunlight at a flux of less than 1 sun (1 kilowatt per square meter). This device is capable of harvesting 2.8 liters of water per kilogram of MOF daily at relative humidity levels as low as 20% and requires no additional input of energy.

GAS-ASSISTED THIN-FILM EVAPORATION FROM CONFINED SPACES FOR DISSIPATION OF HIGH HEAT FLUXES

A new cooling scheme utilizing evaporation from an ultrathin, spatially confined liquid film is described and analyzed for thermal management of hot spots with local heat fluxes in excess of 600 W/cm2. This is achieved by a stable monolayer of liquid maintained on the surface and using fully dry sweeping gas (e.g., air) blown at high velocity (50–100 m/s) above this liquid monolayer. We also demonstrate how dielectric coolants like FC72 can outperform water as an evaporative coolant for this scheme. This work presents the conceptual system design, the results of performance analysis supporting the feasibility of the proposed cooling scheme, and experimental results that demonstrate the idea as well as validate the computational results. The analysis allows one to elucidate the salient physical features of evaporative cooling from spatially confined thin films subjected to a sweeping gas and to identify the key parameters resulting enhanced performance. The simplified model provides results in a form suitable for designing a full-scale cooling device (perspiration nanopatch) that exploits the unique advantages of the proposed cooling scheme.

Interfacial Transport of Evaporating Water Confined in Nanopores

A semianalytical, continuum analysis of evaporation of water confined in a cylindrical nanopore is presented, wherein the combined effect of electrostatic interaction and van der Waals forces is taken into account. The equations governing fluid flow and heat transfer between liquid and vapor phases are partially integrated analytically, to yield a set of ordinary differential equations, which are solved numerically to determine the flow characteristics and effect on the resulting shape and rate of evaporation from the liquid-vapor interface. The analysis identifies three important parameters that significantly affect the overall performance of the system, namely, the capillary radius, pore-wall temperature, and the degree of saturation of vapor phase. The extension of meniscus is found to be prominent for smaller nanoscale capillaries, in turn yielding a greater net rate of evaporation per unit pore area. The effects of temperature and ambient vapor pressure on net rate of evaporation are shown to be analogous. An increase in pore-wall temperature, which enhances saturation pressure, or a decrease in the ambient vapor pressure result in enhancing the net potential for evaporation and increasing the curvature of the interface.

Modeling of Evaporation from Nanopores with Nonequilibrium and Nonlocal Effects

Evaporation from nanopores is of fundamental interest in nature and various industrial applications. We present a theoretical framework to elucidate evaporation and transport within nanopores by incorporating nonequilibrium effects due to the deviation from classical kinetic theory. Additionally, we include the nonlocal effects arising from phase change in nanoporous geometries and the self-regulation of the shape and position of the liquid-vapor interface in response to different operating conditions. We then study the effects of different working parameters to determine conditions suitable for maximizing evaporation from nanopores.

Characterization of Adsorption Enthalpy of Novel Water-Stable Zeolites and Metal-Organic Frameworks.

Water adsorption is becoming increasingly important for many applications including thermal energy storage, desalination, and water harvesting. To develop such applications, it is essential to understand both adsorbent-adsorbate and adsorbate-adsorbate interactions, and also the energy required for adsorption/desorption processes of porous material-adsorbate systems, such as zeolites and metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). In this study, we present a technique to characterize the enthalpy of adsorption/desorption of zeolites and MOF-801 with water as an adsorbate by conducting desorption experiments with conventional differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA). With this method, the enthalpies of adsorption of previously uncharacterized adsorbents were estimated as a function of both uptake and temperature. Our characterizations indicate that the adsorption enthalpies of type I zeolites can increase to greater than twice the latent heat whereas adsorption enthalpies of MOF-801 are nearly constant for a wide range of vapor uptakes.

DESIGN AND OPTIMIZATION OF HIGH PERFORMANCE ADSORPTION-BASED THERMAL BATTERY

Electric vehicle (EV) technology faces a substantial challenge in terms of driving range, especially when the vehicle’s climate control system relies entirely on the onboard electric battery. Therefore, we are developing an advanced adsorption-based thermal battery (ATB) capable of delivering both heating and cooling for electric vehicles with minimal use of the electric battery bank. While adsorption based climate control systems offer the advantage of direct usage of primary thermal energy sources for operation, they typically have low COP values, and are often bulky and heavy. A compact and lightweight ATB is necessary to replace existing climate control systems in EVs that use electric battery for operation. In this paper, we present a detailed computational analysis of adsorption kinetics taking place within an adsorption bed that is capable of delivering large cooling and heating capacities by making use of novel adsorbents. The overall design of the adsorption bed, which is a critical element in achieving a high performance thermal battery, is also discussed. To make performance predictions, we characterized the adsorbents to obtain their thermophysical and transport properties as well as adsorption characteristics. The model consequently incorporates these measured properties to predict the performance variation as a function of time. This work provides the critical parameters affecting heating and cooling rates, and identifies avenues for further improvement in the overall performance of the thermal battery. NOMENCLATURE

Nanoporous evaporative device for advanced electronics thermal management

We report the design, fabrication and modeling of a thin film evaporation device for cooling of high performance electronic systems. The design uses a membrane with pore diameters of ~100 nm to pump liquid via capillarity to dissipate the high heat fluxes. Viscous losses are minimized by using a thin membrane (~200 nm) which is supported by a ridge structure that provides liquid supply channels. As a result, the external pumping requirements are low, enabling an integrated cooling device with a large coefficient of performance. By integrating the cooling solution directly into the substrate, the thermal resistance of the spreader and interface material are removed entirely. Pentane is used as the working fluid based on its dielectric properties, surface tension and latent heat of vaporization. We first developed a model to capture the heat and fluidic transport within the membrane and supporting ridge structure using conservation of mass, momentum and energy. Using the model, we conduct a parametric sweep of the ridge and membrane geometries to elucidate their influence on thermal performance. We then show how the temperature of hot spots can be managed with a customized cooling solution while independently managing the temperature of background heated regions through variation in the membrane porosity over a realizable range of 10 - 50%. This work provides design guidelines for the development of a high performance evaporator device capable of dissipating the extreme heat fluxes (> 1 kW/cm2) required for next generation high power electronic devices.

Experimental characterization of a micro-scale thin film evaporative cooling device

A MEMS-NEMS cooling device based on gas-assisted, thin-film evaporation and its experimental performance characterization are presented, aiming to dissipate large heat fluxes at low junction temperature for thermal management of hot spots in microprocessors. The salient feature of this cooling scheme that distinguishes it from other currently used microfluidic cooling techniques is an efficient combination of heat and mass transfer modes to maximize the rate of convective heat transfer and phase change via evaporation, which enable dissipation of very large heat fluxes. In order to make this possible, a thin film of coolant (∼15 µ;m) is maintained by capillary action over the hotspot by using a thin (∼ 10 µm) nanoporous membrane. This results in minimizing the thermal resistance offered by the thin film. In addition, jet impingement of dry air over the membrane enhances evaporation rate by reducing the mass transfer resistance for transport of vapor phase from the liquid-vapor interface to the ambient. In this paper, design and performance results obtained from experimental testing of a microfabricated device are discussed, demonstrating the heat transfer coefficients approaching 0.1 MW/m2K, while maintaining surface temperatures well below the saturation temperature of the working fluid.

Response to Comment on “Water harvesting from air with metal-organic frameworks powered by natural sunlight”

In their comment, Bui et al. argue that the approach we described in our report is vastly inferior in efficiency to alternative off-the-shelf technologies. Their conclusion is invalid, as they compare efficiencies in completely different operating conditions. Here, using heat transfer and thermodynamics principles, we show how Bui et al.’s conclusions about the efficiencies of off-the-shelf technologies are fundamentally flawed and inaccurate for the operating conditions described in our study.

Optimal Gap Size for Downward Facing Boiling and Steam Venting in a Hemispherical Annular Channel

Abstract A theoretical model has been developed to predict the behavior of a buoyancy-driven upward co-current two-phase flow in an annular channel with uniform gap size that forms between a hemispherical vessel and its surrounding structure. The vessel is fully submerged in water and is heated from within, leading to downward facing boiling on its outer surface. The problem under consideration is relevant to the so-called in-vessel retention (IVR) of core melt, which is a key severe accident management strategy for some advanced pressurized water reactors (APWRs). One available means for IVR is the method of external reactor vessel cooling by flooding of the reactor cavity with water during a severe accident. Design features of most APWRs have the provision for substantial water accumulation in the reactor cavity during numerous postulated accident sequences. With water covering the lower external surfaces of the reactor pressure vessel, significant energy (i.e., decay heat) could be removed from the core melt through the vessel wall by downward facing boiling on the vessel’s outer surface. As boiling of water takes place on the vessel outer surface, the vapor generated on the surface would flow upward through the annular channel under the influence of gravity. The vapor motions would entrain liquid water, thus resulting in a buoyancy-driven upward co-current two-phase flow in the channel. While the flow is induced entirely by the boiling process, the rate of boiling, in turn, can be significantly affected by the resulting two-phase flow. As long as the heat flux from the core melt to the vessel wall does not exceed the critical heat flux limit for downward facing boiling, nucleate boiling is the prevailing regime and the vessel wall can be maintained at relatively low temperatures to prevent failure of the lower head. With this scenario in mind, the problem is formulated by considering the conservation of mass, momentum, and energy in the two-phase mixture, along with the use of available information on two-phase frictional drop and void fraction. The resulting governing system is solved numerically to predict the total mass flow rate that would be induced in the channel by the boiling process. Based on the numerical results, the optimal gap size that would maximize the steam venting rate and the rate of downward facing boiling over a range of wall heat fluxes is determined. The effects of system pressure and liquid level in the reactor cavity on the induced mass flow rate have also been identified.